Phone bidding & sales

The Office Business
1

I’ve had a very hard time selling “How much do you charge to clean my windows” calls. I’ve not been able to get many of them to let me come out and bid onsite. My presumption was it was near impossible to bid & then sell such a call over the phone.
Then, Chris L informed me that ACWC only looks at about 5% of houses before they schedule them. An estimate is given over the phone based on a series of questions, a minimum $ service is required (“what if I don’t like your price when you get here?”…“then we’ll do the required minimum $XXX worth of work”), and the caller is booked.

I’m really hoping I can adopt this method this year. I’ve upped my advertising alot, but that’ll be worthless unless I’m able to dramatically increase my close % over the phone.

How do you bid & sell over the phone?

2

John I think you will start to like this method once you get it down.

Ive posted this before, but for others that are interested this is how we do it:

[B]. It requires about 10 - 15 minutes on the phone. You need to come up with a price per window for every imaginable type. [/B]

[B]Most customers will most likely book with the first company that gives them a price. People want things NOW, they don’t want to wait days to review several bids. [/B]

[B]With a cleverly crafted phone spiel you can have your potential customer figure out how many and what type of windows they have.[/B]

[I]Can I have your name / address / phone number / How did you here about us?[/I]

[B]If they wont give you this info it draws up a red flag in my mind at this point I would politely terminate the call. [/B]

[I]Do you know what type of windows do you have?[/I]

[I]Do they open from the bottom up, or do they crank out to the side? [/I]

[I]Does the screen cover the whole window or half the window?[/I]

[I]Are there any extra pieces of glass on the outside that move up and down or is there just the 2 interior panes?[/I]

[I] Touch the glass. Are there any divides or separators on the window? Can you tell if those grates are fixed or removable?[/I]

[I]Lets take a quick walk around your home and count up how many windows you have. Keep in mind our definition of a window is 2 panes of glass that touch. If they don’t touch or are of larger size like a sliding glass door they will be charged as a separate window. [/I]

[I]Do you have a day in mind for your appointment? We work 7 days a week so we can fit into what ever your schedule allows. [/I]

[I]Now keep in mind Miss Smith this is a rough price based on the information you have provided me with today. When we arrive on site we will do an official count for you. At that point we will give you our final price, and our fabricating debris waiver for you to sign. [/I]

[I]OK I think were just about wrapped up, what type of Credit Card would you like to put your deposit on? We accept Visa / Master Card / [/I]Amex[I] / and Discover. We will be charging your card our minimum for showing up $125. This deposit is 100% refundable you just need to give us 24 hrs notice of cancellation. If you choose to not have all the work we discussed done when we arrive we would be happy to do at least $125 worth of work for you so you don’t lose your deposit. [/I]

[I]OK thanks we will see you next week, and you will be hearing from me the day before your appointment when I give you your reminder call. [/I]

[I]Thanks for calling All County Window Cleaning ! Have a great day![/I]

[B]This is a very rough run down of how a typical sale goes. We have about an 85% close ratio using this method. I came up with this system my second week in business. I always thought it was weird to drive around bidding work when I could spend that time cleaning windows, making money.

If they choose not to book the appointment at this point at least you have all there info. You can through them on your mailing list or you can offer to give them a call back at slower time of year when you can afford to offer discount pricing. [/B]

3

Per a suggestion in one of your videos, I called ACWC on Friday. The “spiel” you just posted was followed almost to the letter.
At the risk of sounding sexist, do you think it helps that you have ladies on the phone? Or, do you believe there’s no difference?

4

Chris, how do you go about estimating your other services, such as gutter cleaning & power washing? Over the phone or on-site?

5

Oh no it helps a lot. Housewives call to book appointments… so I hire housewives to talk on the phone. People like to talk who they know.

6

I have had a couple female clients comment that they think it is great that a female is on the job. My wife does interior windows. I guess it puts them at ease as far as safety is concerned.

7

Sean we do a flat fee for Pw a house and a per sqft charge for any flat work. Side walk decks whatever.

As for gutter cleaning we have a price for each sq foot range of the home.

8

We bid all of our houses over the phone, in much the same manner as Chris, we ask a lot of questions. The only thing I might add is to make sure this isn’t a construction cleanup or a restoration. A lot of times customers think you are supposed to remove paint, caulk, and stickers for a regulsr price. And often lime deposits look like dirt, and customers think it’s your fault that it doesn’t come after 10 years of neglect. I always make that clear to them ahead of time.

9

I also do most of my estimates over the phone. CCU, large commercial and if I’m in the area, I’ll stop by to do a on-sight estimate.
Chris I enjoyed everything you said. I’ve never heard of a WC company requesting a deposit for resi work. How do your potential customers feel or what do they say about giving there out credit card info before the work has been completed?

10

99.5% of them are cool with it… It was real hard for me to get my mind around when we first started doing it 2 years ago. But once we all got use to it, it was cool.

We actually needed to due it to stay in business. At one point we had like a 70 grand in Accounts Receivable. We could barely meet payroll or pay bills. People simply weren’t paying on time and it was causing major internal problems. Things run a lot smoother now because of it.

11

Yeah when I read that it made me feel a little uneasy. I do something similar. Payment is due same day of service. If the customer is not going to be home, I do ask for a credit card and charge it after the job has been completed. Interesting topic. I may look into that in the near future.

Thanks

12

Exactly.

13

I have been giving estimates over the phone now for a year. I haven’t had hardly any luck…maybe 10% have closed. I haven’t used your method for arriving at a price. But, after about 4 questions, I’m able to give the customer an estimate with a $100 range…ex $250-$350…and I tell them it usually falls in the middle of the range. This method has worked as far as getting the price right.

But, I haven’t been closing over the phone. Your agent didn’t give me a range when I ran through an estimate with her…she gave me an exact price, stating that it could go up or down from there when you got onsite.

Maybe it’s in my delivery. I really need to sort this out becuase I’m sure it’s costing me money.

14

It could be the customers are looking for a harder figure. I give them a price and stick to it unless I see something really funky. As for the accounts receivable for residences, I expect the check as soon as I’m done. The only reason I do residences is to help with cash flow.

15

If the customer is home I get a check right then. If not, I leave an invoice that states on it in bold and highlighted that it must be paid within 7 days to avoid a $25 late fee. Haven’t had any problem, yet, knock on wood. Had one guy call me ahead of time to let me know it may be a couple days late because it was being paid through his bank… which was cool.

16

At least he told you. I have bothered and pestered clients before they finally told me, “It takes a few days for my checks to be printed by the bank and then mailed out to you. You’ll get your money.” And then, they never call or schedule again.

I do like the CC deposit thing. I am trying harder to wrap MY mind around it for my business—as far as windows goes. I did it last year with Holiday Lighting Service. I would send them an email with the mock-up design and a price. When they approved the design, I got a 20% deposit right then.

I am sure that it could work this way for WC for me too. I just need to try it.

I like the line, “Your deposit will ensure your position on our elite residential cleaning schedule”. What do you guys think?

17

I might suggest that it has more to do with the assumed close in the middle. Did you notice how the sales agent gets the particulars for how long the job will take (and presumably a price on paper) and then goes right into scheduling before the price? After they schedule a tentative appointment, the price is shared, and then they express that they have everything they need, gives a few disclaimers (letting them know that their own honesty or counting is not the final say) and then they let the customer know what to expect. That is a sure closer over the phone. We do something similar, but unfortunately I often ask things like, “did you want to schedule with us today?” not too good of a close. I’ll be implementing more of this style ASAP!!

18

This is the most valuable operational tidbit I’ve heard in the last 12 months.

Brilliant. I had never thought of that.

Thx!

19

I started biding over the phone last year and it takes some getting used to. You have to be QUICK and SMOOTH when talking with the customer. I explain to them that if they really want me to come out then I need to have someone home. I also give them the “Cable Guy” route. Meaning when they want me to come out I don’t give them an exact time. I give them a 4 hour window. So they will have to sit in their home and wait for me. Some might even have to take off work. 5 Star tossed up his estimate sheet here and I loved it. I changed it for my business and it works very well because it’s very detailed. I explain to the customer they can either spend 10 minutes on the phone with me or wait 4 hours for me to show up. I have the customer start at their front door and work clockwise around the house. They then tell me the types of windows they have and a count. Then we move upstairs (if there is one) and we work those areas for a count. In the end the price is 99% of the time, right on. I explain to the customer the price will go up or down if there is a reason for it. IE the customer miscounted screens or storms etc.
For the 1st couple of weeks trying this I was not landing anything and was thinking I was going to have to do on site forever. But once again, it’s all in the way you talk and handle the phone. I never ASK when they want to book. I tell them “I have xyz dates open, which date should I put you in?” I don’t ask them if they want the service. I know they want it or else they would not have called. Most book, some price shop an call back when the guy has to show up. Some don’t call back or book. One thing I try to do is if the estimate is off by 1 or 2 windows I don’t charge the customer. I don’t nickle and dime them once I’m at the home. I do not want to risk telling them the price has now going up $10 bucks and they tell me to go home. If the price needs to go up $30 or more, then I tell them. Once again though most of the time the bid is right on. Heres my bid sheet. I think this is like the 5th time I tossed it up here. lol.customer estimate.pdf (837 KB)

20

Thats the key right there… It has to flow out of you very smoothly as you transition from one topic right into the next. All leading up to telling them what day you want them on the schedule. Its your schedule… Fill it!